June 29, 2007 04:04 PM UTC

"Denver Three" Bootings Official White House Policy

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Rocky Mountain News reports:

Two people ejected from a Bush speech in Denver over a bumper sticker have filed a second lawsuit, claiming a White House manual unlawfully bars potential critics of the president from public events.

The Presidential Advance Manual calls for Bush volunteers to distribute tickets in a manner to deter protesters and to stop demonstrators from entering. It also calls for “rally squads” to drown out demonstrators and get between them and news cameras. The manual was obtained through a deposition in a West Virginia case…

The combination of the manual and the exclusion of people who had not disrupted events “suggests there is a formal, official policy of trying to keep hidden from the press and the president anyone who disagrees with the president,” said ACLU attorney Chris Hansen.

Hansen is arguing that people can be ejected from official presidential events “only upon disruption,” and not because of their viewpoints. He wants a federal judge to declare unconstitutional the policy of excluding people from presidential events due to their viewpoints or on the assumption they will become disruptive.

The “advance manual” they obtained further belies statements that have been repeatedly made by the White House and the defendants in the “Denver Three” lawsuits, and it may help them succeed in their years-long campaign to expose an unconstitutional policy of excluding dissent at Bush events.

We continue to be amazed by the legs on this story, like we were two years ago. That said, new developments in the case will not change anyone’s minds at this point–not the 65% of Americans who already disapprove of the administration, or the 30% who remain loyal to it. It’s scenery for an argument that most of the country has already settled.